It is crunch time for the Huntington field hockey team. Every game is important from here on in so the Blue Devils’ 2-1 overtime victory at Suffolk Division I foe Centereach is a big deal.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Huntington rallied. Morgan Minicozzi tied the game with about 22 minutes remaining and Anna Wickey won it in overtime went she put a shot past Centereach goalie Amanda Prevete.
Morgan Minicozzi is one of Huntington's best players. (Darin Reed photo.)
“Today’s win was tremendous,” Minicozzi said. “This will put us in line for a playoff berth. We fought a giant today and won. We all worked together and we pushed ourselves for our goal; the playoffs. This win will bring us into playoffs for the first time in four years and we couldn’t be happier.”
Wickey has eight goals and three assists and is playing herself into contention for All-County and All-State honors. “Of course I’d like to score or assist a goal every game, but my priority is to make sure the team gets a win,” she said. “I always play my hardest and best.”
Huntington goalkeeper Julie Rogel stopped six shots and the Blue Devil defense was spectacular when it counted most.
Centereach is a solid team, so coming back from a second half deficit to win in overtime is quite an accomplishment for Huntington.
“It was an unreal win,” Holly Wright said. “Down by one at halftime, we all took some time to think and when we got back on the field there was no stopping us. When Morgan scored our first goal we got all of our momentum. We held them to 1-1 for the rest of the game. We went into overtime and played 7 vs. 7.”
Wright, Minicozzi, Wickey, Rogel, Megan Byrnes, Phoebe Walther and Bella Fox took the field to give their all for the 10 minute overtime period. At 8:08 the Blue Devils got a corner and Wickey finished it four seconds later.
“It was a crazy great game,” Wright said. “I am beyond proud of this team. We keep taking each game at a time and we are doing great. This team has the potential to go farther then we have ever gone before. We are just getting started and I’m so excited to for the rest to come.”
Huntington has games remaining with Ward Melville, Copiague, Walt Whitman, Sachem North and a Senior Day contest at home against Connetquot on Wednesday, October 17 at 4 p.m.
“The plan for the rest of the season is to take down some more teams and to keep ourselves in the No. 11 or 12 seed,” Minicozzi said. “We are determined to go to playoffs and compete against competitive teams and make a name for ourselves.”
The Blue Devils are feeling invincible right now. “Today’s win was really big,” Byrnes said. “Honestly, we just went out there and did what we knew we were capable of. We all worked together as a team to pull off an important win and I am so proud of my teammates, especially Anna and Morgan for how hard they worked together to pull out the win.”
